The World | IN BRIEF / MEXICO

Senators Weigh Demand to Oust Oaxaca Governor

Leftist activists blockaded government offices across the southern state of Oaxaca to pressure federal senators to remove the state's governor.

A Senate committee was meeting in Mexico City to discuss whether to send a bill to remove Gov. Ulises Ruiz on the grounds that he had lost control of his state.

Activists from the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, a mix of trade unionists and leftists, accuse Ruiz of rigging the 2004 election to win office. More than 2,000 of the assembly's members have blocked Oaxaca's colonial state capital for months.